coronavirus

coronavirus,

any of a group (family Coronaviridae, subfamily Coronavirinae) of enveloped single-stranded RNA viruses that have a crownlike or sunlike appearance under an electron microscope due to the presence of spikes on their surface. Coronaviruses infect mammals (including humans) and birds, mainly in the upper respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts. Most only infect a single species or closely related species; a number of coronaviruses can have significant effects on farm animals, especially poultry.

In humans the most prevalent coronaviruses are those that are responsible for varieties of the common coldcold, common,acute viral infection of the mucous membranes of the nose and throat, often involving the sinuses. The typical sore throat, sneezing, and fatigue may be accompanied by body aches, headache, low fever, and chills......Click the link for more information.; coronaviruses are estimated to cause as many as 30% of all colds. More serious are the coronaviruses responsible for SARSSARSor severe acute respiratory syndrome,communicable viral disease that can progress to a potentially fatal pneumonia. The first symptoms of SARS are usually a high fever, headache and body aches, sore throat, and mild respiratory symptoms; diarrhea may occur......Click the link for more information. (severe acute respiratory syndrome), SARSCoV, and for MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), MERSCoV; outbreaks caused by infections with these viruses, which can affect both humans and animals, have resulted in signficant deaths. The SARS outbreak began in China in 2002 and spread globally in 2003; some 9% of those infected died. The first identified MERS outbreak originated in 2012 in Saudi Arabia (the virus appears to be common in dromedary camels); the most significant outbreak outside Saudi Arabia occurred in South Korea in 2015 and was traced to an individual who had visited the Middle East. MERS has killed roughly 40% of those people who are known to be infected, but infections have been relatively rare. Most known cases of MERS have quickly progressed to serious respiratory illness, with fever, cough, pneumonia, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing. Many MERS patients have also had diarrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms; kidney failure has sometimes occurred. Older individuals appear to be particularly susceptible. Although there has been person-to-person transmission, MERSCoV (unlike the SARS virus) does not appear to be highly contagious in humans.

Human coronaviruses appear to spread mainly through droplets in the air resulting from coughing or sneezing, or through close contact with an infected person or a contaminated object or surface. There are no vaccines or treatment for coronaviruses; care consists mainly in alleviating symptoms and preventing the viruses' transmission through handwashing and other measures. The first coronavirus, an infectious bronchitis virus of birds, was identified in the 1930s; the first human coronaviruses, associated with the common cold, were identified in the 1960s.

coronavirus

[kə¦rō·nə¦vī·rəs]

(virology)

A major group of animal viruses including avian infectious bronchitis virus and mouse hepatitis virus.

Summary: TEHRAN (FNA)- The director-general of the United Nations' World Health Organization admitted the novel coronavirus, dubbed as MERS-CoV for the first time by the body on Tuesday, and which have hit 44 people worldwide, is "a threat to the entire world".

There are two key parameters listed in Table 1, P values, which indicate whether there was a significant difference between the synthesized peptide and SARS coronavirus as antigen in the ELISA, and x/31, which represents the detection rate when particular peptides were used as antigen.

Meanwhile, the centre said five patients in a Denmark hospital do not have novel coronavirus but an influenza B infection, keeping the total number of laboratory confirmed cases of novel coronavirus worldwide at two.

A newly-discovered virus in the coronavirus family has been seen to cause severe infection in two individuals to date with first case being a Saudi national, who died earlier this year, and a second person - a Qatari with travel history to Saudi Arabia, who was medivacked (medically evacuated) from the Hamad General Hospital subsequently to the UK.

Washington, Aug 23 ( ANI ): Researchers have uncovered components of the SARS coronavirus - which triggered a major outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2002-03 - that allow it to take over host cells in order to replicate.

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